Car-door-operating mechanism.



No1-812,783. PATENTBD FEB. 13, 1906. A. CAMPBELL..

GAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DIE()l 2, 1905.

3 SHBBTSHB'BT 1.

QQQQ Q QQ Q Q Q Q l?) l! i QQ/Q Q Q Q. Q Q 9'@ 5 I ms No. 812,783.PATBNTED FEB. 1s, 1906.

V A. CAMPBELL'. GARDOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 12,110.2, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 812,783. PATENTBD PEB. 13, 1,906.

A. CAMPBELL.

` GAR DOOR OPERATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILI-ID DEO, 2, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

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ARGYLE CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ENTER- PRISE-RAILWAY EQUIPMENT COMPANY. OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, yA

CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

oAn-ccoR-OEPERA-rme mEcHANasm.

Specification' of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13,1906.

A*Application tiled December 2, 1905. Serial No. 290,006.

To 71,371,011 it may cm1/cern:

Beit known that-I, 'ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State oi Illinois, haveinvented a certainnew and useful Improvement in- Car-.Door-OperatingMechanism, of which the following is a specification. 1

My invention relates to car-door-operating mechanism/and particularly tosuch doors when placed in the iioor or other lower portion of the car,so that theymay be opened to dump load from the car.

The object of my invention is-to provide such a mechanism which can bevery easily and cheaply made and installed, which is ei'-A lii-cient'inoperation, and lnot readily liable to get out of order.

My invention broadly consists in the use of a shaft or equivalentmechanism carrying. a crank-arm connected to the door to be oper- I atedby a connecting-rod, there being a iiexi- `tions which they assume bleconnection somewhere in the mechanism, so. th at by rotating the shaftbetween two different positions the door may be opened and closed ardwhen in the latter position held in that position without any verygreat, if any,

strain upon special locking mechanism provided to hold the device insuch a position.

The invfentin further consists in more s pe' cie details, which will behereinaftersmore' fully described and claimed Aas .the specifica,- tionproceeds.

Figure 1-is a partial side partly in section, of' a car having thespecific embodiment of my invention applied thereto.` Fig. 2 is a-sectiornl end view on line 2 of Fig. 1, showing the parts illustratedin Fig. 1 when the floor-door is closed. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are detailviews of the operating mechanism7 showing7 respectively, the parts inthe posil hen the door is closed, partly open, and fully open. .F ig. 6is a corresponding detail end view of Fig. 1. I have illustrated thedevice of my invention as ap lied to a-carin which the floordoors areinged crosswise oithe car and swung downward, so that the load is dumpedat or near the transverse center of the car; .but my invention is justas applicable to a ear in which the floor door or doors are pivnl ngntdrotvrlnor'parallei tothe longitudinarw or lino of the carland a door ordoors swung down to dump the load either at the side of the car or nearthe longitudinal center line oi 5 5 the car without departure from'theprinciples of my invention.

In Fig. l1 the'numeral 11 indicates plates, channel -irons, Ifbeams, orbuilt -up sections, forming the central girder of a car, and 6o thenumeral 12 indicates suitable corresponding side sills of a car, thesame being intersected atx suitable intervals by cross-bearers orbolsters (not shown) `to form the ordinary underframe of a car. Overthis-underframe is placed a floor 14, having in it at suitable spacesregistering with the spaces in the underframe iloor doors 15. In theparticular instan ce here shown these doors 15 are hinged at 16 to thefloor of the car and are adapted .7o to swing from the ullline positionof Fig. 1 to the dotted-line position of that iigure, so that when inthe latter position they discharge the load upon them toward thetransverse center lineof thevcar. i x

Journaledstnsversely of-'the car in suitable bearings in the underframe,with itsaXis parallel to theaxis of the hinge 16; of tlie door or doors,isa shaft 2()` This shaft is ,as slfiwri, mounted in such 'expositionthat it is below 8o the plane ofr the floor of v theca'r andthe iloor`doors when they are in normalor ulleline po.

It is also mounted to one ve of the front edge 21 of the door proper andthe frontiedge 22 ofthe casting 23, se- -85 cured to the front edge ofthe door, as hereinafter described, so that the door 15, with thecasting 23 upon it, can swing backwardand forward between the full-lineand dotted-line ,I positions of Fig. 1 without striking the shaft. 9gThis shaft should, however'7 be mounted as near as it conveniently canto lthe arc oi travelj g of the edge 22 of the casting 23. i x

Rigidly mounted upon the shaft 2() is\ cranlcarm 25 for each door to beoperated by 95 the device. In the particular instance shown in thedrawings where two bers are operated there are two such cranks, and ifmore doors were operated by the shaft a correspondingly increased numberof crankarms would be roo Iused. Iivotally connected to the outer' endof each crank-arm on a pin or pivot 27 is a connecting rod 28, somewhatlonger and 'preferably about twice as long as the crankarrn 25. Thisconnecting-rod 28 is preferably r o5 madein 'angular form, asshowinso'tliit'wiien in the normal positions of Figs.l 1, 3, and 6 1Itsiouldbe noted'that the connecting-rod the pivot 27, heretoforedescribed, will lie in l 28 passes around the shaft 20 onfthe side awayapproximately the -same vertical line as a pin i from the hinge of thedoor when the door is or pivot 30 at the opposite end of theconnectclosed, withthe result that the shaft forms al ing-rod 27, sothat the weight upon this fulcrum for the connecting-rod to bearagainst7o crank-pin causes very littleleverage about while moving from theposition of Fig.l 3 Ito the center of the shaft 20, tending to rotatethat of Fig. 4 and backagain, so that the upthe crankarm 25 about thecenter of the per endso?, the connecting-rod carrying-the shaft. f pin30 acts as a lever to positively move. the 1o The crank-pin 30,heretofore described, endoor. This feature 'assisted by the fact. 7 5ters and is adaptedto travel in an elongated that a notch ist-at in theconnecting-rod slot :f1 in the casting 23, heretofore described, andthere it engages the shaft when the parts secured to the under side ofthe floor-door. are in normal position. i

hiscrank-pin 30 may be simply a journaled Having thus described myinvention, what i 5 roller adapted to travel backward and for- I claimasnew, and desire to secure by-Let'- 8o:

ward in the slot 31, the roller bearing on the ters Patent, is`-normally horizontal sides of the slot 31, asis 1. In mechanism of theclass described, in apparently the casein Fig. 1, or it may carrycombination with a suitable supportinganinde endent antifriction-roller33, adapted frame a'hinged car-door to bei-moved bezo to trave backwardand forward along the base tween' closed and open positions ,"a shaftpiv- 8 5 35 of the casting 23 or other suitable track, as otally mountedadj acentvto, but clear of, the shown in Fig. 2. line of travelof thefront edge of the door; a 0n the end ofthe shaft 20 Iprovide asuitcrank-arm on said shaft and a connectingable hand-lever'38, aratchet-wheel 39, and rod of/greater length than the 4crank-arm 2 5 pawlor pawls 40, of any of the ordinary types con i ected'at one end to thecrank-arm and at 9o of construction, so that the shaft 20 may be 'theother end to the door; and a ,pin or roller moved by the handle betweenits different carried by one of the members of the mech` positions, aswill be hereinafter described, anism sliding ina slot in an adjacentmember and locked in any desired position by' pneans of the mechanism,whereby the shaft may be 3o.of the pawl mechanism. rotated between twodifferent positions to 95 In the operation of the device the parts areopen and close the door, as descrbed. normally in the full-line positionof Fig. 1 and 2.` In mechanism of the fclass described,fin the positionsof Figs. 2, 3, and 6, with the combination with'A a suitablesupportingfloor-door in closed position. The operator, frame; a hingedcar-door to be moved be- 35T' desiring to dump the load upon aparticular 'tween closed andopenpositions; ashaft pivreo floor-door orfloor-doors controlled by one otally mounted adjacent to, but clear of,the shaft 20, takes hold of the handle 38, and after line'of. travel ofthe front edge of the door a releasing the pawl or pawls 40 from the Vcrank-arm on said shaft and a connectingratchet-wheel 39 rotates theshaft and at-v lrod of greater length than the crank-arm con- 4o tachedparts in a clockwise direction when nected at one end to the crank-arm'and at .Io5` Aseen as in Fig. 3, with ther-result that the pin theotheriend Ito the door; a pin or roller car- 30 is moved to the right inthat figure toward :ried by one of the members of the mechanthe positionof Fig-4. As this takes plea-.q

ism sliding in a slot in an ad.'acent member of this pin 30 kmoves alongthe slot 31 to the s the mechanism, whereby t e shaft may be right andthe load upon the floor-door or the rotated between two differentpositions tol rio weight of the door itself ygreatly assists the openand close the doorg'mea'ns for rotating operator'in moving the parts tothc position said shaft; andmeans for locking the same of Fig. 4, Ifthismuch of an opening is sufyin closed position, -cientfor the desireddischarge of load, the 3. In mechanism ofthe class described, in y 5omotion maybe stopped at this point but if av combination with suitablesupporting mechr 15 further opening is desired the rotation of theanism, and a hin ed car-door to be* openedr shaft 2O is continued untilthe parts assume and closed; a shatmounted-.approximately the positionofFig. 5, with the result that the vdoor is given a wide opening becausethe lparallel to lthe axis of thehinge of the door adjacent to, andclear` of, the swinging front crank-armY and the connecting-rod are insubstantially a'straight line, as shown, thereby edge of the door; acrank-arm upon saidshaft; 1 2 o insurin automatic dumping. of even averyf la connectingarod .pivotally' connected at one sticky oad. Whenthedumping has beelif' yend' to saidv crank-arm, and a pin-and-slotcompleted,y the operator takes hold of thel connection between.theuopposite end of the crank-arm and the door, whereby the shaft 6ohandle and rotates the shaft in the oppositel direction, first, totheposition of Fig. '4, and

may be rotated between two different posi- 1e 5 finally to thepositionof Fi 3, in which positions to open'and close .the door. 4

4.- In mechanism ofthclassdmldin tio'nthe door or doors are c osed, andthan reT M msetsthe pawl or pawls 40, ,thereby locking the device 1nnormal position.

amsm,.and a hinged car-door to be opened combiiatinwith suitableAsupporting mech- .and closed fa'shaft mounted approximately :3o

tion between the opposite end ofthe crankarm and the door, whereby theshaft maybe rotated between `two different positions to open and closethe door; and mechanism for operating the shaft and for locking theshaft with the door in closed position.

5. In mechanism of the class described, in combinati on with a suitablesupporting-frame and a hinged door to be opened and closed; a sjiaftparallel to the axis of the hinge of the oor mounted clear of butadjacent to the path of travel of the front edge of the door and in aline approximately pe endicular to the plane of the door'when the oor isclosed; a crank-arm on said shaft normally extending away from the door,aconnecting-rod havingone 'end pivotally mounted on said crank-arm,extending toward the door past theshaft on its side away from the hingeof the door, and a pin-and-slot connection be- Y tween the second end ofthe connecting-rod in approximately tlgle same andthe door. y

6. In mechanism of the class described, in combination with a suitablesupporting-frame and -a hinged door to be opened and closed; a

' shaft parallel to the axis of the hinge of the door, mounted clear ofbut adjacent to the path of travel of the front edge of the door;mechanism for rotating the shaft and for locking it in desired position;a crank-arm on said shaftl normally extending away from the door; aconnecting-rod having one end pivotally mounted on said crank-arm,lextending toward the door past the shaft on its side away fromthe hingeof the door to a point in which its second end of the connecting-rod islane perpendicular to the door as the cranii-pin on its'lower end, and apin-and-slot connection between the second end of the connecting-rod andthe door, whereby as said shaft is 'rotated said door is opened and'closed, as described.

77 In a car, in combination with the underfrare rand a normally levelpivoted floordoor, adapted to be opened and closed to discharge theload,y a shaft mounted .below the floor of the car adjacent to the pathof travel of the edge of the Hoor-door for rotating said shaft; meansfor locking said shaft ina desired position; a normallydownwardly-extending crank-arm on said shaft; and a connecting-rod of.greater length than said crankarm pivotally mounted at one end upon saidcrank-arm, extending toward the door on the side of the shaft away fromthe hinge of the door7 and having its opposite end pivotally connectedto the door, there being a slidable connection between two adjacentmembers of the mechanism whereby rotating the shaft between twodifferent ositions opens and closes the door, as descri ed.

8. In a car, in combination with a suitable underframe,V and a car-floorhaving doors therein adapted to swing down to discharge load; a shaftjournaled below the floor of t e car adjacent to the swin ing edge ofthedoor; a crank-arm normally shaft; aconnecting-rod of greater ength thanthe crank-arm pivotally connected to the crank-arm, extendin 'past theshaft on the side away from the hlnge of the door toward the door to aposition in which the upper en d of the crank-arm and the pivot on itslower end are normally in approximately a vertical line; a dpin upon theu per end of said crankarm-a apted to traveim slot upon the floordoor;and mechanism for rotating said shaft and for lockingit in t-he desiredposition.

.9. In mechanism of the class described, in

combination with a suitable supporting-frame and a door to be opened andclosed; a crankarm pivoted adjacent to the path of travel of the edgelof the door; means for rotating said crank-arm and for securing ity indesired position; a connecting-rod pivotally connected to the crank-armandconnectcd by pin-and-slot connection to the door, the

whole being so arranged that by rotating the shaft to one position thedoor may be closed, and that by rotating the shaft to another positionthe door swings past the pivot of the Acrank-arm and is given a wideopening due to ependm from said a the connecting-rod and crank-arm beingin approximately a straight line7 as described.

In Witness whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence oftwo witnesses.

ARGYLE CAMPBELL. Witnesses:

`CAROLYN RAFTEY,

DWIGHT B. CHEEVER.

IOO

